is rav weiss really a moderate? why doesn't he go out to the street and stop these fights if he is against them?

I don't think so, but I guess "moderate" is relative. maybe he is "moderate" compared to other Eidah people...

is it true that the good rabbi isn't an israeli citizen?

dont know if it is true or not. I do remember hearing it when he first took the job of gaavad of the Eidah. He came from Antwerp to take over the Eidah. He very well might not be a citizen.

if he isn't a citizen then the state should do a mubarak awad on him and kick him and any other non-citizen who sits on the board of the eidah out of here.

interesting suggestion. Many in the Eidah are not citizens. Maybe Israel can deport anybody involved in violent protest or seen to be supporting such forms of protest.

A short while ago when the protests forst started, Israel announced that foreign students arrested as part of the protests would be deported. I have not heard of any such deportation actually happening, but maybe it could be done.

Imagine the riots if anyone from the Eidah got deported. Just because they wouldn't be in the country does not mean that they can't communicate with anyone in the country.

sounds like lau is recommending to never protest, as it is always useless.

azmi bashara and mubarak awad ran away/kicked out and where are they today?

is this fool proof? of course not. the shah expelled ayatollah khomeni and he sent back videos. however keeping them here is not doing any good and if they are directing the riots, then there is absolutely reason that they should be allowed to stay.

the reason why the riots continue is because the police/state use such light force on these guys. they mainly try to limit the damage, not crush the riots. greater use of force - rubber bullets, gas, smoke bombs, trudgeons, the same stuff i used on arabs - would go a long way. distrubting the leadership would also help.

Ben, that's an interesting analogy you used there ("Shah expelled Khomeini") :-)

I'm not sure if violence against the Charedi rioters is "the answer". Sure it makes us feel better because we are "doing something", but it doesn't appear to be very effective and it appears to exacerbate the situation (i.e. the rioters also become more violent). At least that the logic [almost] everyone uses with the Arabs.

I think, perhaps, a better solution would be to hit them immediately in the pocketbook. Everyone likes to "eat", and the Charedim very much depend on government money to run their yeshivot. An immediate administrative halt of funds to their institutions might very quickly get the leadership to stop the riots. And nobody should doubt that they (their Rabbis) have such power because they do, they could stop the riots with a single word to their loyalists.

Mark

Mark - the groups protesting and rioting dont generally take funds from the government. And it seems unfair to take funds from other haredi groups just because these guys rioted.

I don't believe that all the rioters come from communities that don't associate with Israel or its funding. Even so, the other Charedim that tacitly support the rioting would very quickly condemn it vociferously (and maybe even beat up some of the hooligans at the center of the rioting - I bet the average Charedi hates them more than we do but is afraid to do anything about them).

Deportations of chutznik yeshiva students caught rioting should also take place, which is another form of economic "warfare", because the yeshivot are often profitable businesses.

Mark

There seems to be a cycle of: they protest, so the police come and beat them up. I'm sure that with a little creativity the people could be headed off before it becomes a fully formed protest.
There are numerous tools for dispersing hostile crowds which do not involve physical harm like rubber bullets do. I've seen vids of giant stink bombs and a machine that makes an ear-splitting shriek etc. Let's see a little ingenuity here! (Our police are starting to look like keystone cops every week).